The Open Review Toolkit is a project led by Matthew Salganik, a Professor of Sociology at Princeton University. The project has received financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The Open Review Toolkit grew out of a desire to improve the way that academic books are published. In particular, it sought to develop a process that could simultaneously lead to better books, higher sales, and increased access to knowledge. Authors, publishers, and the public all share these goals, although they might prioritize them differently. Rather than seeing these goals as being in conflict, the Open Review process seeks to use new technology to advance all of them.